


Nieto

by prayed



Category: Rick and Morty
Genre: Angst, Child Neglect, Coming Out, Dysfunctional Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Grandparents & Grandchildren, Misgendering, Physical Abuse, Toxic Masculinity, Trans Character, Trans Male Character, Trans Morty, Trans Morty Smith, Transgender, Unhealthy Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,255
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28551891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prayed/pseuds/prayed
Summary: Morty can learn to love the cold, hard, painful things in life when they’re all he’s got.
Relationships: Rick Sanchez & Morty Smith
Comments: 6
Kudos: 34





	Nieto

**Author's Note:**

> A lot of this is close to my heart. 
> 
> Not everything is something I relate to personally - I’d rather be alone than in bad company. But I know both will wear you down.
> 
> This is sort of a fantasy too. That someone cares. And Rick does care, but he still manages to be loving in a very cruel way.

Rick doesn’t change much after Morty tells everyone at the dinner table that he’s a transgender man. His parents though, they cry to each other and shout at him and make him dress and act even girlier than he’s ever had to before. It’s torture. 

Rick and Summer yell at them but neither listens. A week passes. Morty never brings it up again and neither do they. He’s not stupid enough to argue with them after seeing the looks on their faces. He shoves it all back down just so that the pain will eventually stop. The misgendering, the personal attacks, the weird looks - have all worn him down far too quickly. He’s wept and wept, regretting having said anything in the first place. 

“Not surprised at Jerry, but I didn’t think I raised Beth to be this way,” Rick laughs humorlessly. “It’s a damned shame.”

“Well, I mean, at least you and Summer understand,” Morty says, his voice exhausted and thin. “That’s enough for me, Rick.”

“That’s great, Morty, because being a guy-- it‘s not all it’s cracked up to be. You’re gonna get called a little pussy b-bitch and get beaten up and grow hair in all kinds of messed up places, so you should-- you, you better learn to suck it up, Morty.”

Rick fails to mention that he’s been the one making Morty’s life harder since before he even came out: the insults and violence, rubbing puberty in his face, other weird shit... He punched Morty in the eye the other day just for fun, and Morty supposes he better learn to take it sooner rather than later, that maybe Rick is really looking out for him in some way by not being gentle, but it hurt like hell. 

Still, he didn’t say anything about it. He took it like a champ. Made himself feel proud when he didn’t cry. And Rick always treats him a little nicer when Morty proves he can take his temper. So he doesn’t say anything, if he can help it.

Regardless, Morty finds that he can’t stay mad at Rick no matter what, because it’s not shocking when a demon acts like a demon. He isn’t surprised if he loves a tiger and it bites him; that’s what they do - that’s what’s so charming about them. And that’s what Rick is like. But when it comes to his parents, he doesn’t know what he expected from them. Some support maybe? Some understanding or tolerance? Or perhaps an ‘Oh, that’s why you did that when you were little’. He feels like there’s a part of him and them that will always miss each other, like strangers walking past in the street.

They don’t love him anymore. They never really knew him. He knows this. He feels the same way of them. And still, it hurts.

Rick tries to teach Morty how to be more like the stereotype of a man. The right way to shave, to walk, to talk, to dress. 

How to look tough, steel his heart, or at least to make it look like he has. Teaching this is such a kind gesture that it surprises Morty. It’s just what he needs, knowing he can’t truly count on his parents’ care anymore. Rick is all he’s ever really had, now more than ever. 

He’s willing to learn, but he fucks up more often than not. Machismo is a made up thing; he tries to learn it, but it doesn’t come naturally to Morty just because he’s a guy. When he fails, Rick is patient with him, as he so rarely is. But he looks far away.

Morty thinks maybe when Rick grew from a boy into a man, it must have been brutal. It would explain a lot. Who hurt him? How much? At least Summer was trying to support Morty more now, but had Rick had anything positive in his life like that when he was growing up? Morty feels uneasy at the thought.

“Hey. If your parents don’t like it, well, who cares-- urp-- who gives a fuck what they think, Morty? When you’re a grown man, you can do whatever you want. You won’t have to listen to them anymore.“

Rick takes a swig from his flask. He sounds like he knows what he’s talking about a little too well.

“Th-thanks, Rick. I appreciate it.”

Morty thinks even if he were to never get the chance to transition, at least someone acknowledged him in this lifetime. His sister and his grandfather. Some people aren’t even that fortunate. Some people stay hidden their entire lives. He knows he should be grateful.

“You’ll always have to listen to /me/ though, Morty. You know that, don’t you? Because if you listen to me--“

“--You’ll do great things and I’ll get to be a part of them?“

“Yeah! Yeah, fucking-- That’s right, Morty, a hundred years, you little shit. Listen to me until the day you die, and then beyond that.”

Rick says it like he owns Morty, like his grandson is a possession of his. Like he wants to add, ‘You can die when I say so. I control you, I control the fucking universe!’ At one point this would have bothered Morty more, but now. Now it just makes him smile big. He knows he’s useful at best and disposable at worst, but in this infinite, lonely universe, Morty is wanted by someone. And that’s what matters. Rick would never say so, but he does say other things.

Morty notices how Rick says his name so much: Morty, Morty, Mortyyy. Maybe he’s trying to be encouraging... It’s the name that Morty chose, just the masculine counterpart of his former name, but still. All Morty knows is that it feels good, being referred to by it, like finally being seen. Rick can say it as much as he wants - he can wear it out until even Morty himself is sick of hearing it.

It’s one of the reasons he loves to hear Rick repeat his rants over and over again. The other reason is that no one else has ever promised him a hundred years. His own parents could never do that now. Morty doesn’t know if Rick could really live that long, but if anyone can figure out how to make that work, it’s him. And for a hundred years, Morty will be no one’s daughter. Just a brother. Just a grandson. 

Morty wraps his arms around Rick from behind as he’s working at the workbench.

“N-n-not-- urp-- not very masc of you, muchacho.”

“Quit it, Rick. I can be manly and give you a hug. See? I’m doing it right now.”

Rick’s shoulders shake with amusement and he gets back to work without another word. 

The machine Rick’s creating will vanish the flesh from Morty’s chest, give him length between his legs, alter his organs and make him /right/. They haven’t told his parents. Morty’s not sure whether they should - it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission, after all. But will they kick their own child out? Get mad at Rick? He isn’t certain what will happen, but he wants this. If losing his parents is what it’s going to take, then he thinks he can be strong and accept it.

He doesn’t know what the future will be like anymore. All he knows to do is thank Rick again and again, and wait for his grandfather to re-create him, like a god making man out of mud in his hands.


End file.
